The Case for Reform

1. Summary

Our First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system is failing:

• It does not always produce sufficiently representative results to give councils democratic legitimacy



• It can give parties exaggerated majorities, leading to single-party-dominated councils, where the lack of an effective opposition weakens scrutiny of council actions and, on some occasions, to allegations of malpractice



• Many votes do not count in FPTP elections, resulting in poor turnouts and councillors who lack a convincing democratic mandate

PR for Scottish local government is needed because:

• It would give parties a fairer distribution of seats



• Turnouts could be increased because it would give people more incentive to vote



• It makes votes count. This would give parties an incentive to fight for every vote - democratic activity would be increased



• PR can produce better local government:

  -	by eliminating excessive majorities and by providing more effective oppositions, it can ensure proper scrutiny of council actions
  -	by requiring greater co-operation between parties, and changing the political culture: it promotes constructive politics, negotiation and consensus building

STV is the best system for Scottish local government because:

• It is not a new electoral system for Scotland – it was used to elect Education Authorities between 1918 and 1929 and is used by Stirling District to elect its community councils



• It strengthens the constituency link – because the majority of votes will count towards the election of a candidate, most voters will end up with a candidate of their choosing



• It increases voter choice



• It will make councils more representative – parties would be keener to field young candidates, more women and candidates from minority groups



• It is simple to use



• It has provided Northern Ireland with stable and representative local government since 1973